Chapter Text
“You didn’t.”
“I did. If she finds out she’ll kill me for sure.”
They studied the baby in front of them, cooing and busily playing with the toy his uncle bought. His round cheeks were covered in permanent ink. There were bright blue streaks on his arms where he had a little too much fun with the permanent markers he found in his father’s briefcase.
Makoto sighed. “Did you try soap?”
“Of course!” Rin snapped. “It won’t come off. What do you use those markers for anyway?”
“Grading papers,” Makoto stooped and picked up his son, who wiggled his arms happily and garbled at his father. “You had fun with Uncle Rin today, didn’t you?” He kissed the baby’s forehead. “But we have to get you cleaned up before Mama comes home.”
“What are we going to do?” Rin tried to rub at the marks on the baby’s arms, despite knowing the efforts were futile. “I tried soap, spit, alcohol, and the stuff won’t budge. I didn’t want to put the harsh stuff on his face.”
Makoto suddenly cried out. “I got it!”
“What?!”
“Sunscreen.”
“Eh?”
“Don’t you remember?” He turned to Rin, his face eager. “We used to do it all the time at meets. Didn’t you ever write down your event on your hand, so you would remember?”
Rin crossed his arms. “What do you take me for, an amateur? I never had to do that stupid stuff.”
Makoto tsked. “Just get his bathtub ready.”
It worked like a charm. The sunscreen washed off the ink, and after a quick bath the ink stains were blessedly gone.
Gou returned from her shopping trip to find her husband, her son, and her brother sitting on the couch. Makoto was feeding the baby, and Rin was searching the channels for something to watch. There was no evidence that anything had gone awry-Rin had cleaned up the evidence while Makoto dressed the baby.
“You’re home early,” Gou kissed the top of her husband’s head as she crossed along the back of the couch. She offered a kiss to her brother and tickled her son’s cheek. “Did everything go alright, Rin? I hope he didn’t give you any trouble.”
“Nah, he’s an easy kid. Just eats like an elephant.” Rin glanced at his brother-in-law as he got up from the couch and took her shopping bags. “We had a pretty boring day.”
“Good,” Gou smiled. “I’m going to change. Thanks again for watching him.”
“Yeah, no problem,” he smiled back as she headed down the hall to her room. When she shut the door, he turned back to Makoto, just a little bit begrudging. “Thanks for the help,” he scratched the back of his head. “I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Makoto smiled, and Rin suddenly wanted to punch him in the face. If it weren’t for his nephew peacefully drinking his bottle in his father’s lap, he might have indulged the whim. “It’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Ren or Ran.”
Fin